Police on the lookout for those who harassed African women

A day after an FIR was lodged against ‘unknown’ persons in connection with the alleged harassment of women of African nationalities at Khirki Extension in New Delhi on Wednesday night, the Delhi Police have initiated investigations to establish identities of the culprits.

According to sources, they showed television footage and newspaper reports of the episode to the complainants asking them to identify those involved.

“We have gathered raw footage from various television news channels whose reporters were covering the incident on the fateful night. The footage captured Law Minister Somnath Bharti accompanied with several persons, who had blocked the way of the Ugandan women and forced them to give urine samples for test,” said a source.

The police, however, gave no official confirmation of mentioning Mr. Bharti’s name in the FIR. The FIR that was registered on the complaint of African residents does not mention the Law Minister or anyone else.

A Ugandan woman, who was among the complainants, told The Hindu: “I came to Delhi for my treatment and was staying at my cousin’s house at Khirki Extension. On Wednesday night, some men knocked on my door and asked me to open it. When I opened it, they entered my house, pushed me and assaulted me. They asked me to show my passport and said that you ‘blacks’ come here and spoil our country. You should immediately leave this place.”

“When I picked up the phone to call the police, they asked how could I call India’s police for our protection,” added the woman.

In a related development, the Delhi Police issued a press release by the Delhi Police Retired Officers slamming Mr. Bharti and Women and Child Welfare Minister Rakhi Birla for their act, labelling it as a mileage-giver for running politics.

“Our reliable sources have informed us that Law Minister Somnath Bharti overstepped his authority by illegally visiting Khirki Extension and committed the offences of wrongful restraint and wrongful confinement of the four foreign nationals,” read the release.

Further alleging them of working against the law of the land, the Delhi Police said: “Mr. Bharti with his team took the girls to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences by wrongfully restraining them. He got them examined but none of them were under intoxication”.